Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
In ancient Israel, the Levitical priests had to succeed one another because they kept dying, as one generation comes, another goes, time and tide waits for no man. But Jesus Christ needs no successor because He will not die. The fact that Christ will not die and need replacement by another priest means that He can see His work of delivering His people through to the end.
The believer stands justified to receive the past, present and eternal heavenly blessings because of what Jesus Christ had done for him. Christ died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and seated in a position of authority to plead the believer’s cause before the Father! Jesus Christ will also be the final Judge. Hence, the believer is in a secure position having entrusted his soul to Jesus Christ. Jesus is both Chief Advocate and Judge. The courtroom metaphor best describes what Jesus has done and will do for the believer.
The Apostle Paul assures believers that God will not withhold anything good from them seeing that He has given His own Son for our redemption. God will do us good. He is working out His good will in our lives. Will he withhold anything good from us? Surely not! It is cause for praise and thanksgiving. There must be that assurance and restfulness of God’s abiding presence to help us.
The believer has the assurance that since God is with him, he will be kept safe under God’s protection. He expresses it by a conditional sentence stating that if God is for us, the outcome will surely be that none can overpower the will of God for our lives. The Apostle Paul has just described God’s salvific work in the believer’s life from election to calling, from calling to justification and from justification to glorification. He stills our heart by stating a truthful supposition.
The believer has yet to see the glory of God’s salvation in his life. The Apostle Paul is showing us the infinite preciousness accorded to every believer from beginning to end. He is special and unique in God’s sight. And there is a unique purpose for his existence upon earth.
God choose beforehand, determine in advance in eternity past, whom He will save to bear the name of His Son upon the earth in his lifetime. To be chosen by the Father, purchased by the Son and sealed by the Spirit. What a great privilege it is to be called into faith and to live the life of faith.
This verse provides encouragement to the believer, “the called”, throughout the ages as he comes to understand the excellent care of God in his life. God orders the events, encounters and experiences in the believer’s life for his good. Although he may not understand why he has to go through the various stages of his life, he can trust God to order all things for his well-being. It is the overall thought for our meditation. There are no accidentals or incidentals in the believer’s life. Everything is under the full control and purview of our great God.
The Apostle Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit aids the believer to the will of God. The mysterious working of the Holy Spirit within us is not seen but can be understood as a comforting truth and a life-bearing compass. Indeed, as the godly man’s reminder goes “the believer’s heart is the Holy Spirit’s home. Have you God nudging you lately? The Holy Spirit can do more in a minute than we can do ourselves in a lifetime”!
The Holy Spirit sustains us by His divine presence helping us overcome our sin, the flesh and the world. As the old saying goes, “If you have the Holy Spirit on the inside, you can stand any kind of battle on the outside…The human spirit fails unless the Holy Spirit fills.”
When Noah is building the ark, he has not seen rain. But he knows that God will be sending rain in the fullness of time and the ark that he builds will provide security and safety from the coming calamity. The Bible tells us that Noah feared God. He took God at His Word and proved Him faithful! Hebrews 11:6 testifies “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” May God grant us faith in His Word so that we will continue to hope in Him as we await His soon return! Amen.